Mexican soldiers on Friday arrested a suspected drug trafficker named Melvin Gutiérrez Quiroz who for years has been associated with the Arellano Félix organization and San Diego’s Barrio Logan gang, law enforcement sources said.

There was no official announcement of the detention, which took place Friday morning in Tijuana’s well-to-do Colonia Juárez neighborhood, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by their agencies to talk about the detention.

Gutiérrez was one of 10 men listed in a 2009 DEA poster identifying a new generation of drug traffickers headed by Fernando Sánchez Arellano, a nephew of the Arellano Félix brothers, who are now dead or behind bars.

“He’s a big fish,” the U.S. official said of Gutiérrez.

A top Baja California law enforcement official would not confirm the arrest when questioned by reporters Friday. Abel Galván Gallardo, deputy attorney general for organized crime, said that Gutiérrez came from Barrio Logan and had worked closely with the Arellano Félix group’s former leaders.

The U.S. official said Gutiérrez is a U.S. citizen who goes by the nickname “Casper” because of his light complexion.

Gutiérrez first became linked with the Arellanos in the early 1990s, the official said. Gutiérrez served three years in prison from 1994 to 1997, then fled to Mexico and is currently wanted in the United States on a parole violation, the U.S. official said.

Sandra Dibble • U-T

Pedestrian killed on foggy I-8; chain-reaction crash ties up I-805

San Diego

A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed on a foggy Interstate 8 in Mission Valley early Friday, and a chain-reaction crash tied up Interstate 805 through City Heights for four hours.

A 45-year-old San Diego woman was hit by a car as she walked into traffic on west Interstate 8 near Taylor Street about 4:45 a.m., authorities said. CHP Officer Tommy Doerr said fog may have been a factor

On I-805, lanes in both directions were closed at University Avenue after a 3:30 a.m. crash. A southbound Mazda sedan hit a Caltrans sign trailer, and parts of the sign flew into northbound lanes. The driver, a 22-year-old San Diego man, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.

On the northbound side, the driver of a Toyota Camry stopped on the freeway to pull debris from under his car, CHP Sgt. Steve Lopez said. A double-trailer cement truck smashed into the Camry, sending the car’s driver flying onto the right shoulder. He was hospitalized with major injuries.

The trailer then hit another car. That driver suffered a slight injury, Lopez said.

Pauline Repard • U-T

Man shot by police charged with attempted murder in car-ramming

San Diego

A man who was shot after San Diego police said he rammed a deputy U.S. marshal’s car was charged Friday with attempted murder on a peace officer.

Richard Arguijo Jr., 32, also faces one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

Bail was set at $3 million during a bedside arraignment at Sharp Memorial Hospital, where Arguijo is recovering from two gunshot wounds to his upper torso.